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A network drive, also known as a NAS (network attached storage) drive, is a storage device that connects to a home or office network instead of your computer. Some of the advantages of this are obvious: for example, you can get access files from a smartphone, tablet, or computer without having to plug the drive in.
Other, perhaps less obvious, positives of NAS include things like automated backups and the ability to mirror data on two drives. In other words, NAS offers a flexible and protected way to manage Mac storage that’s far beyond that of standard external hard drives. Read along to learn how to map a network drive and avoid some common NAS mistakes.
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What is a network drive used for?
Whether it’s populated or diskless, has one bay or more than five, a network drive is typically used as an alternative to cloud storage. It may be easy to drag and drop files to something like Google Drive or Dropbox, but just a bit of drive mapping can make using a network drive a fantastic cloud alternative.
Home Network Mac
Some of network drive’s key advantages include:
- Better control over your files
- More security features than cloud services
- Flexibility without compromising on privacy
- Being used by multiple users across multiple devices
Map network drive on macOS (one-time)
Nowadays, most NAS devices are seriously easy to map. Let’s say that you’ve been working on a document in your home office but have just remembered a key fact that you want to include. Time to make a quick edit from your wife’s laptop before you forget about it!
Network drive access can be obtained in three simple steps, provided you don’t mind having to repeat those steps if the connection drops, you restart your Mac, or the device is disconnected:
- In Finder, either hit Command+K to bring up “Connect to Server” or click Go > Connect to Server
- Enter the path of the network drive you’re trying to map (e.g. smb://192.168.1.300/shared/Files) and click Connect
- Enter your login details and password then click OK to mount the network drive
You can now access the relevant drive either via your desktop or the sidebar in Finder windows.
Map network drive on macOS (remount after reboot)
Maybe you have a server in your office with a connected network drive and want all your employees to be able to connect to it so they can collaborate on shared documents. If you want to keep a Mac connected to a network drive, even after restarting, the easiest way to do this is to follow the three steps above then add these:
- Hit the Apple menu, then System Preferences > Users & Groups
- From here, select Login Items and click + to add a new item
- Find your network drive and click Add, then close the window
Now, your network drive will be mapped and automatically remounted when you reboot your Mac. Network drives won’t, however, connect automatically if you’re using a different WiFi network.
Make a network drive accessible from Mac desktop
Depending on your settings, mounted drives may not always appear on your desktop. That’s not necessarily a problem if you don’t mind only being able to see connected servers in Finder window sidebars and open/save dialogues.
If, however, you want your NAS device to always be just one double-click away (in the same way that most people have Macintosh HD as a visible item on their desktop) just follow these steps:
- Open Finder > Preferences or click Command + to open Finder Preferences
- Click the General tab, then tick the box next to Connected servers
- Close Finder Preferences
Remount a mapped network drive with one click
Managing, or working across, multiple departments that each have their own network drive? In that case, it can be handy to create aliases of mapped network drive(s):
- Right click on any mapped NAS device on your desktop.
- Select Make Alias
This might not sound like anything all that significant but, as the subheading suggests, you can use this alias to reconnect to a network drive with one click. That can be very helpful if you need to keep jumping between different shared drives.
How to manage files with network-attached storage
In most cases, macOS’s default tools are sufficient for viewing, editing, and deleting files. That might change, however, if you’re using a NAS device. For example, it’s very easy to end up with a ton of duplicate files on your network drive where it’s likely you’ll be less concerned about making the most of your storage as you might be with a built in hard drive.
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- Open up the app and hit the giant + or drag your folder of choice into the window
- Choose from recommended locations or select a custom folder
- Push the green Scan for Duplicates button to get started
- Delete duplicate files manually or use Smart Cleanup to automate the process
For a more granular approach to file management, you might want to consider something like DCommander or Forklift. These apps both offer dual-pane file management, as well as features like batch renaming, copying, and deletion, in a more seamless way than your default Finder.
Although Forklift was designed with FTP management in mind, it’s become a favorite of network drive users because of how closely it resembles macOS. Billed as a Finder replacement app in parts of its marketing material, you won’t find an app much more native unless it comes out of Cupertino.
Plus, actually getting started with the app is incredibly simple:
- Open up the Forklift app
- Use the left-hand panel to find the file(s) you want to move across
- Select the right-hand panel then, using the sidebar, click on your network drive
- Start moving, renaming and archiving files
If Forklift isn’t for you then you might prefer to take a look at DCommander, an approved Mac alternative of Total Commander for Windows. In addition to two side-by-side file panels that look very similar to those of Forklift, DCommander puts a wider range of commands and features (including quick file viewing, selective file unpacking, navigation history, and a great looking Dark Mode) at your fingertips without the need to leave the dual-panel display.
![Drive Drive](https://www.itinstock.com/ekmps/shops/itinstock/images/Fusion-12U-Network-Rack-Cabinet-Enclosure-With-Front-Door-Sides-Keys-And-Fans-23991-p.jpg)
Both apps let you do things like mark certain drives as favorites, create and browse archives, and get previews of items. In short, they’re much like macOS’s Finder … only better. It’s difficult to overstate how much easier it becomes to manage Mac storage with dual-pane browsing until you try to organize your network drive without it!
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Effectively manage Mac storage day-to-day
Thanks to macOS, network drive mapping is a pretty simple process even if you’re not particularly tech-savvy. You might be out of luck if you’re hoping to access a NAS device from another network using standard macOS tools but, at present, that’s pretty much the only thing keeping network drives from competing with the cloud at the mainstream level.
If remote access isn’t such a concern for you and you’re using NAS as an alternative to cloud, then it’s definitely worth taking a look at programs like Forklift or DCommander to make file management easier once you’re done drive mapping, as well as Gemini to ensure that your NAS device isn’t filling up with duplicate files you don’t need.
Best of all, the software mentioned above is available for a free trial through Setapp, a collection of over 150 high-quality macOS applications from the best developers around. Manage your Mac effectively today!
![Network Network](https://conceptdraw.com/a704c3/p1/preview/640/pict--multimedia-clipart-design-elements---computers.png--diagram-flowchart-example.png)
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Sep 28, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
An external hard drive is just a storage device that is connected to your computer on the outside. Standard Hard drives draw power from their data source cable, which comes from the system itself. Some advanced disks may require an AC connection to derive power on their own. These storage devices come in varying storage capacities, but they all connect to a computer either by USB, eSATA, or wirelessly.
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Plug and play functionality offers system compatibility and offers extensive storage options and portable design for the consumer. These memory devices are compatible with both Mac and Windows PC. These disks provide capacities ranged from 250 GB to 10 TB.
Compatibility issues between Windows and MacOS may have reduced over the years, but that doesn't mean they've been completely wiped out. Sharing files from Windows to Mac is a demoralizing task, but in this article, we will discuss how to overcome such issues as there are various methods to do such that. Also, the external hard drive file recovery will be mentioned.
Part 1. Situations Where to Share External Drive Between Mac and Windows
Many MacOS and Windows users today find themselves in mixed platform offices, where they need to share files and work on them. Sharing stuff between PCs and Macs is not as nearly simple as it should be. There are different ways for your computer systems to talk to each other and share files. The main problem occurs because each operating system supports a different set of data sharing protocol, think of them as different computer languages. We will discuss some of them in this section:
- FTP (File Transfer Protocol): It is one of the well-known data sharing systems. If you've ever spent any time on the internet, then you know that FTP is one of the most convenient options for sharing stuff between your Mac and PC.
- NFS (Network File System): It is a file-sharing protocol that the Unix-based systems like to use for sharing files, which both Windows and Macs can understand. It is more popular on the Windows PC side of the fence.
- AFP (Apple Filing Protocol): It is only designed for MacOS. Windows do not understand it. But from Mac-to-Mac, it's what makes sharing extremely easy. The problem occurs when you intend to use an AFP disk drive on a Windows PC.
Fortunately, there are many methods to fix such a problem. One of it is that you can perform 'partition' on your computer's primary hard drive. You can divide the HDD of your Windows PC into different sections with different rules, storage space, and functions.
You can also perform a partition on the main drive of Mac so that part of it works during the file-sharing process. Both Windows and Mac have the essential tools to help in performing partition for your External hard drives. Here we will discuss how to do disk partition on Mac and Windows computers.
Part 2. Formatting an External Hard Disk Drive From a Mac:
To put in simple words, if you want to share the external hard drive between Macintosh and Windows PC, you need to format an external hard drive for the respective system.
Hard drives for Windows PC are formatted with NTFS by default, while hard disks for Mac are formatted with HFS+. However, when we connect an NTFS formatted disk to Mac, Mac OS X doesn't support it and would not allow you to write files to the drive. It also disables the ability to edit the pre-existing data in the drive. MacOS offers the user to read an NTFS drive. Windows OS will similarly ask you to format the HFS+ formatted drive when you connect such a disk to its PC. Creating a partition on the disk is the best option. Follow the step-by-step guide to partition the drive on a Mac.
- Open Disk Utility on your Mac. Select the icon of Disk Utility by searching for it in Search in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
- Locate and select the hard drive you want to partition.
- Select the Partition option.
- If you intend to format the entire drive, then you can perform the procedure by clicking on Erase.
- Select the Erase Free Space option to format the disk.
- Specify the number of partitions on the external hard drive you want to create by entering the information in the partition column.
- Enter the name and size of each newly formed partition of the drive. Please specify the details to proceed further.
- It is recommended that you set the drive into two parts, one partition dedicated to the Mac and other for the Windows PC.
- Select the format for the Mac portion as MacOS Extended (Journaled).
- Select the Windows part as ExFAT. This format allows the drive to store a large amount of data.
It is recommended that you select the default option of GUID Partition. It is usually optimal with an external hard drive, as long as you don't intend to create a bootable drive out of it to install an operating system.
- Once you are done with all of the methods mentioned above, click on Apply.
- A warning pop-up will appear, click on Partition.
The partition process of your external hard disk drive on the Mac will finish. You will able to check exFAT format by plugging the drive onto a Windows PC nearby.
Part 3. Formatting an External Hard Disk Drive From a Windows PC:
Partitioning is an act of splitting a drive into pieces, and it is important to set at least one partition to store data and a pre-set-up folder.
There are many reasons why one would want to create a partition on their external drive. You should save some of the space for general file storage; data that you might need later, and the other to store backups of your most important files. You also may want an encrypted portion of a drive for private files. You may even want to put your media files like videos in one partition and photos and documents in another to speed up searches.
You can also create a bootable portion of the drive to install a different operating system on computers; you'll need to partition part of a drive for the OS. Formatting and creating a partition on an external hard drive is complicated in the Windows operating system. In this section, we will learn how to format an external HDD from a Windows computer.
- Click on the Start menu to open Windows Disk Management.
- Type diskmgmt.msc in the search bar.
- Click on Create and Format Hard disk partitions.
- Disk Management window will appear.
- Click on Disk 1.
- Format the drive if you haven't already. Formatting the disk is essential before partitioning it.
- Right-click on Disk 1 option.
- Click on Format.
- Click on Initialize Disk.
- A new window will open, asking you to select a partition style for your disk.
- Select the GPT format; it is supported by all the external hard disk drives.
- Click on OK.
- You will notice a drive listed as unallocated.
- Right-click on the unallocated drive and click on New Simple Volume. It will initiate the New Simple Volume Wizard.
- Click on Next.
- Specify the size and name of the Volume.
- Select exFAT as the file system.
- Create this partition in conjunction with the Mac device you want to use the drive on.
- Click on Next.
- Click on Finish.
- Repeat the process and set the file system for the other volume as NTFS, to use the drive in conjunction with the Windows PC.
By following the methods above, creating partitions on the external hard disk will now seem pretty straightforward. You know how to set up the drive on any operating system, and it will take just a little bit of time.
Part 4. How to Recover Data from a Formatted Hard Drive?
The hard drive is a complex piece of storage device, and, commonly, even a slight bit of negligence can lead to loss of essential data. You should not save any new information on the formatted hard drive, or it will be completely overwritten.
- Reasons Why Data get Erased on a Portable Hard Drive:
In this section, we will discuss some of the factors why your data can get deleted. Some of those reasons are mentioned below:
- The Virus can enter the Hard drive when you insert it into some virus infected computer.
- Neglecting any sort warnings after inserting the drive on to the system
- Not properly removing the storage device from the computer.
- Preparations before data recovery:
Before starting the recovery process, you should follow the necessary precautions listed below to avoid any inconvenience:
- You need to Plug your External hard disk drive with the computer.
- Directly Insert the drive in the USB port on your computer.
- Do not remove the external hard disk from the computer, during the recovery scan.
- Maintain the Backup of essential media before the recovery procedure.
You can recover your data by using data recovering software like Recoverit Data Recovery by Wondershare. The tool provides a high recovery rate of 96%. It allows you to connect almost every type of portable devices like the memory card or USB and recovers data from them.
It recovers documents and photos from all type of file formats which includes: Docx, pages, JPEG, PNG, GIF, Avi, MP3, MPEG exFAT, FAT, HFS, NTFS, and much more. Follow our step-by-step guide for the solution to your Data recovery problem.
1. Select the Location of the External Drive:
After launching the Recoverit Mac data recovery software, follow these steps:
- Select the 'External Drive Location' where data was deleted or lost.
- Click the 'Start' button to initiate the process.
2. Scanning for Lost Data:
- Data scanning will start in Recoverit.
- A scan completion pop up will appear on the screen.
- The scanning time depends a lot on the size of your Hard drive. The larger the file, the longer the time it will take to finish the scan.
3. Recover the Lost Data:
- The recovered files will be sorted by the File Path and File Type on the Recoverit window.
- Select the file you want to view and hit the Preview button
- Click on the 'Recover' button after checking the authenticity of the data.
Part 5. How to Encrypt your External Hard Drive:
In this day and age, data protection is essential. It is necessary to encrypt your portable storage devices to ensure safety. It will prevent individuals to hack into your files. In this section, we will discuss how to protect your drives and folders on both MacOS and Windows PC.
- Encryption on MacOS:
- Press Command + Shift + A to open the Applications folder on your Mac.
- Open Utilities.
- Click on Disk Utility.
- Click on View.
- Click on Show all Devices.
- Select the External Drive that you want to encrypt.
- Click on Erase.
- Choose the GUID Partition Map and Format the drive.
- Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted) as the encrypted file format. You can also change to a Windows supported format like exFAT.
- Enter and verify a password.
- Click on Choose.
- Click on OK.
- Your drive will be Encrypted.
- Encryption on Windows PC:
Encrypting a file or drive on a Windows PC is simple. Follow the steps below to enable the option:
- Click on This PC.
- Right-Click on the drive that you want to encrypt.
- Click on Turn on BitLocker.
- Check the option ' Use a Password to Unlock the Drive.'
- Enter and verify your password.
- Click on Next.
- Save the password to your Microsoft Account or a USB.
- Click on Next.
- Choose Encrypt Entire Drive.
- Choose New Encryption Mode and click on Next.
- Click on Start Encrypting
Mac Network Drive Connection Failed
Closing Words:
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Having to share and edit different files across several platforms can be unavoidable in some situations. That is the case when you need to open an external hard drive on your Mac or Windows PC. This article will help you in dealing with this kind of issue. It is essential to create a back up for your files and save the data before performing the partition and formatting the external disk. You can freely use the method for both the MacOS and Windows OS. If in any case, your data is formatted or lost, then you can quickly recover the formatted disk data by using Recoverit Recovery Software. It guarantees hassle-free data recovery in no time.
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